Beneath the Mask
by Bipolar-Writer
Summary: Tobi has been acting his usual, childish self. Deidara is irritated. But things are never as they seem, and curiosity seems to be one of those things. AU


_**A/N**_: I haven't written for Naruto in a while, so it feels nice writing a fic again. It is the first time I write for Obito though. I was inspired to write this short fic, not only from the anime/manga, of course, but from a RP I had going on with an Obito on tumblr. It never was completed but for what we got down it was pretty amazing.

Now, a few important notes I'd like to add. This story is an AU, pretty much a deviation from what happened in the canon verse. I apologize if I made any mistakes both in grammar or in some important fact I missed. I've had this idea in my head for a while and I finally got down to write it. Reviews will be much appreciated. I hope you all enjoy it.

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_Damn him, and damn this whole organization!_

Sometimes he just had to curse it all out to find a moment of peace within him, but even that served to aggravate the Akatsuki's bomber much to his limit. He could barely stand the foolhardy orders of their leader, Pein-Sama, the insults shot by the sadistic religion freak better known as Hidan, the judging eyes of Itachi Uchiha that always seemed to be directed his way with intent of prejudice, the ever so indifferent facade of the enigmatic Kakuzu, the damn aloe vera plant Zetsu whose split personality was downright annoying when he least needed it, and last, and certainty least, his failure of a partner that contributed nothing to life, Tobi.

It was moments as these he just wished the apathetic, puppet master Sasori no Akasune was still alive, that his position had never been opened and this idiot wouldn't have to end up as his pathetic replacement. Truly, Sasori must be turning on his grave at the thought of someone of that sort replacing him, _him_, the everlasting artist of eternal beauty. As much as Deidara despised the idea, he would gladly embrace it only to have his old partner back instead of _this_.

How useless he was was beyond words of description. His lack of attention, lack of strict demeanor, and yet he survived each time. Never had Deidara seen a single injury at the skin of the man, and if he'd ever suffered one was beyond him. Even in the most critical of situations did the masked individual keep up his act of a stupid seven-year-old kid who cared about nothing more than playing his little game. Well this was no game, and Deidara had had enough. His mouth opened wide, exhaling a sigh at the sight of the entrance to the Akatsuki base. Finally, hours that felt like centuries of walking alongside the guy, he was glad to see what he could simulate as a home. But as much as he'd want to go in, it was Tobi who seemed to surpass his own enthusiasm as he rushed right past him and towards the entrance. He didn't hesitate to form a hand seal as he'd always seen his sempai do and had never had the chance to do so himself. With this great opportunity, he gladly had the rock that hid the entrance move from its spot to reveal the opening.

"See, Deidara-Sempai, see! I did it! I told you I could do it! You see!" the masked man exclaimed triumphantly as he pointed at his _masterpiece_. All the other could do was roll his visible eye and proceed to enter the base.

As much as he didn't like to admit, he was tired. Paperwork was to be done on their succeeding mission, as well as a checkup of all the equipment he'd need to refill on. The mere thought sounded tiresome, and yet he knew that if he'd leave it for later everything would just pile up. Missions did always come out of the blue, and surely Pein would be hurling yet another task as soon as he noticed their return.

And of course he'd have to do it on his own. Tobi was already running down the hallway that lead to the dorms, only turning around before his form became invisible by the corner to wave at the younger male. "Deidara-Sempai, I'm heading out to bed now!" he informed, raising a hand to his forehead to salute. "I trust you'll do an excellent work on filing that paperwork for Pein-Sama, yeah, yeah?"

His over enthusiasm was disgusting, and even though he spoke of being tired that attitude said otherwise. It pissed Deidara off. Nonetheless the artist waved him away with indifference; it was no surprise he was stuck doing this, as every other time. One of the thousands of reasons Tobi was a useless idiot for a teammate, and sadly no matter how much he begged the Leader would not be changing him any time soon.

Another sigh, this time of defeat, escaped his mouth and he began making his way to his own dorm. He was truly exhaust. This particular mission had taken quite a toll on him. Even his chakra was running low, dangerously low, to the point of being unable to mold a single clay sculpture to create his infamous traveling bird. Thus the reason walking was the last, and painstaking, resort of returning to the base.

He was tired, pissed, and even a little bit hungry. His last meal had been- When had it been?

As he wondered this he'd already began gathering a few formal papers from his desk, a pen, and pulled out his chair to begin work. But instead he just dropped it all there, leaning back on his chain, his head propped back as he tried to gain back some energy. He just wanted to throw the papers to the side and drop his heavy head on the desk, yell at Pein-Sama, at Tobi, even at the whole Akatsuki group to stop their shit and give him a second to breath, but it seemed impossible without a fight, and right now he had naught chakra to spare. Another sigh. Now he was sure he'd been laying back in this strange, uncomfortable position of sprawled on the chain, his head tipped back, for more than a few minutes. Now his neck felt sore (but no way in comparison to his aching feet). Damn, he felt like an old man.

He slowly regained his posture, sitting up straight, taking the pen in hand and inspecting what he'd need to write down. He began easily, writing down a few names, intel he'd gotten no thanks to his partner, and the battle that went down afterward, no easy one at that. He'd nearly lost most of his limbs it was not for his last minute plotting. Luckily he was a fast thinker.

He managed to finish the damn report faster than he'd thought. Well that was out of the list. He sighed in relief as he dropped the pen, watching it roll off the counter and onto the floor. Like hell he'd pick that up.

He got up, eyed it, rolled his eyes and went to pick it up. Strangely enough as he took it in his hand he remembered something missing. His ring. His right index finger felt empty without it, and soon he remembered Tobi having been fixed on seeing it up close for himself. After about thirty minutes of whining and running Deidara's patience dangerously thin, he'd gotten his request, not soon after they'd arrive at their destination and the ring was left in oblivion.

Now he couldn't let that idiot carry that thing around carelessly. He'd lose it if he already hadn't. There was some debating in the bomber's mind, whether to go over and snatch it from the damn guy or wait until morning. If he waited-

No, he wasn't waiting. Tobi was an idiot and he needed to rescue his ring before it was too late. As tired as Deidara was he marched right out of his dorm, went down the hallway and reached Tobi's door. He'd never really been inside, not that he'd ever want to, simply knew where it was. Well, there was always a first time for everything.

Deidara didn't even bother to knock. With one hand he snatched the door right open, a deep frown already displayed across his face as he made his way inside, only that when his mouth was wide open, ready to yell a few profanities, it shut right back to its normal position. Tobi was asleep. Through the dim light, courtesy of the hallway, that distinguished him, he could see the masked man, still masked of course, sprawled across his bed, hands behind his head, feet slightly apart, his head tilted away from him giving signs he was not aware of the new person entering his dorm, and not to mention the faint sound of his breath, coming out slowly, steadily; signs of deep slumber.

The blond stood in the doorway, as though the picture didn't add up, for a few more seconds. With narrowed eyes he watched his partner, his chest rising and falling through the thick Akatsuki cloak he had seemed to be too tired to replace with pajamas, or simply something more comfortable. Deidara rubbed the back of his neck, visibly tired with the whole day and wanting to get his ring back before it crossed a worth fate at Tobi's hands. He wanted it back, so he'd just have to look for it on his own. Stepping in, Deidara began inspecting his surroundings. Although dark, he could make out the simple outline of the room and its furniture. A single bed, of course, a desk where a few things were cramped up all together, a plant? Unusual, but he didn't pay it much mind. Other small objects he didn't care about, but no ring. A few minutes had passed feeling like hours, and Deidara sighed for the umpteenth time that day. Blue eyes wandered back to the sleeping man whose head was now facing the ceiling, one hand over his stomach and another still under his head. How he could peacefully sleep with someone in the room showed Deidara just how terrible his shinobi skills were. (-Not that Deidara wouldn't sleep over someone entering his room after such a tiresome mission as they'd just face, but judgment clouded his logic).

Suddenly he found himself staring hard at the orange mask that seemed to always be perched upon the mysterious face of Tobi. It was no secret Deidara had always been quite curious as to what the man's face could look like. In his head he had pictured different faces, from the most hideous, horrendous monstrous faces hidden behind a mask for his own sake, to gorgeous, heartthrob-of-a-face that had no reason to hide other than not draw attention to himself. It was a true enigma, and thinking he wouldn't take any chance he'd get to just take a glimpse would just plain be lying to himself.

A smirk crossed his lips, sly, devious, as one that would cross when locking in on his target. Deidara approached the bed with steady feet, silent much thanks to his shinobi skills. He slowed his breathing, as to prevent any single sound to awaken the masked man from his slumber and ruin his whole plan. Just a glimpse he wanted, just to know what the guy looked like wouldn't kill him, would it?

Deidara approached silently, leaning over the side of the bed on his tip toes, his stance stiff and uncomfortable as he even held his breath. His right hand approached the orange mask, looming over for seconds, calculating the correct coordinates to place them over so that with a swift, unnoticed motion he would take off the cover. With narrowed eyes, sweat running down the side of his forehead, tip toes already hurting from their uncomfortable position, and a shaking right hand, he drew in a breath before plunging in. It felt like hours when Deidara finally made a single contact with the mask, felt its rough edge, clay from what he'd once judged to be correct. First his index finger, then his middle, then the next, and so on until his whole hand covered one side of the mask.

But it wasn't enough to take a good grasp of the mask. He needed both.

He swallowed a deep sigh, shook his head to rest for a single second, and went back to work. Now, as he rose his left hand to aid the right, Tobi moved. Ever so slightly did he move his head to Deidara, his hand falling from his stomach and to his side. Deidara's heart nearly came out of his throat as his hand returned to his chest. It was silly, being taken off by Tobi like this, but this was more vital than he'd thought. This was his only opportunity to do this, to see Tobi's face. He wouldn't spoil it. And if the man was to wake up he'd know he'd lost his once in a life time chance.

He was glad to see Tobi was still fast asleep as a snore escaped his throat. He shook his head in relief, rubbed his temples and readied himself to try again. This time both hands came down simultaneously to remove the orange mask man. They lowered slowly, and just as they were near a centimeter of contact Tobi moved his head to once more face the ceiling.

_Damn it!_

Deidara cursed in his mind a few times before giving a silent sigh. This was giving him anxiety, but he was taking the mask off no matter what.

Now there was great determination in his face. He frowned deeply, his teeth gritted, his breath held back as much as he could, and his body stiff. Hands this time lowered enough to finally curl around the mask, getting a good grip of the edge were it connected with the strap that kept it in place. Carefully, however nervously, Deidara unclenched the mask from its hanger. He was glad it loosened without even as a sound, and bit his lip when the mask was now on his hand, ready to be taken off and completely expose the face of Tobi.

This was it. This was the moment he'd been anticipation. The mask was now in his hands, he took a better grip of it above Tobi's true face to make sure this was real. He blinked a few times as though to wake himself up, make memory of this vital moment, and with a swift motion he rose the mask to his chest and off of its usual perched face.

What he saw down below he inspected with narrow eyes, the dim light being no obstacle to meet face to face with the real Tobi. Azure eyes traveled along the pale face of a man, same spiky black hair he could always see now covering some parts of his forehead, eyes closed of course, but something strange, something that perhaps could be an explanation as to why he even wore a mask (that or he was actually a viscous psychopath running from his village- Not likely) clearly visible at eyesight. The left side of his face was scarred in whole, as though he'd suffered a terrible accident at some point in his life. The scar was wide, reached the side of his his nose and rose up deep into his black hair. He couldn't make sure if it continued to trail down his neck, but something told him it did.

There was no other surprise, only knowing his true form which somehow was quite a disappointing discovery. He would have expected something much different, something hilarious, something frightening even for him, but a strangely set of scars? It was so stupidly typical, he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Damn idiot," he grumbled through his teeth, now feeling like a fool for making such a fuss over seeing this guy's face. It was strange though, as he eyed the still sleeping man, how that attitude of his belonged to this face. How this guy, who looked like any ordinary scarred man, could be an idiot, could be his pathetic excuse for a partner.

He still stared in mild disbelief, but soon found himself rolling his eyes and ready to leave. He eyed the mask for a moment, unsure whether to put it back on or take it with him. Putting it back seemed like a hassle, and taking it back would probably be a bad idea as well. When Tobi woke up unmasked he'd surely start whining and saying something along the lines of, "Senpai! Gimme back my mas will ya'?" Just the thought was annoying all on its own.

And just when Deidara decided to leave it resting besides him, as to simulate he'd taken it off in his sleep, the snoring breath of the sleeping man was cut short. Deidara, who at the moment had been reaching his hand to place the mask besides the others body, froze in his spot, staring at the now unmasked man opening his eyes abruptly, visibly alarmed and startled by something. He shot up from the bed, a clear frown upon his face, looking disoriented at his surroundings. A hand came to his face to confirm he had indeed lost his mask, and then his eyes, or at least the left one which remained opened, turned to the guilty man holding just what he'd been looking for.

In those few seconds Deidara had been paralyzed, his face filled with disbelief at the sight of Tobi, the sight of Tobi's true face frowning like this, the sight of Tobi looking right at him with his real face, his now visible onyx eye.

But then he remembered, this was Tobi. With or without the mask he was still an idiot. He told himself this as he recomposed himself, unfroze and met Tobi's eye with a look of indifference. "Looking for this?" he questioned smugly, waving around the orange mask possessively. His voice was followed with cold, dead silence, something that came as a surprise to the bomber as his expectations were mistaken. Tobi simply stared at him, a frown of something of confusion drawn upon his unfamiliar features, before he rose from the bed with authority. Shocked, Deidara took a step back, eyes wide, hand clutching the orange mask as though the other would suddenly snatch it from him. Realizing he was reacting to Tobi, _Tobi_ this way, he scoffed at himself and laughed it off. "Come on, are you scared I unmasked you? I don't see what you were trying to hide anyway. A scar? What's the big deal, hm? I would expect someone like you to not have a low self esteem like that, Tobi."

Even as his words were careless and joking, Tobi's face seemed unfazed. He approached Deidara sternly, not affected by a single word he said. He only stopped when he was but a few feet away, frowning harder, aberrant at the eyes of Deidara. If he didn't know any better he'd say this was someone else and not Tobi, for that look in his eye, it wasn't his.

"You've unmasked me, are you satisfied?" Tobi questioned, his voice completely different from its usual high pitched tone. Now it was lower, although something of a mirage of his old one, and strict. Very strict and outlandish. Deidara had no response other than widening his eyes, completely taken aback by this change in character. _Who the hell is this? _"Well I hope you are. Now that you've seen my face I can't have you going around telling everyone else what I look like. The plan is still premature."

This wasn't Tobi, or if it was he had definitely been tricked in a nasty way. Whatever was going on was beyond him, beyond his understanding. Deidara stood by the door, still holding on to the orange mask, processing the words this man had only just spoke. A premature plan? Can't have him going around telling everyone what he looked like? Just who the hell was this guy?

"What the hell, Tobi? Don't be a damn bastard, will ya'? Stop bullshitting me or I'll kill you!" Deidara hissed, confusion being consequence of true anger as he lashed out at the other without much hesitation, only he didn't understand what was going on, all he could deduce was being tricked and feeling pretty pissed off about it. He didn't like to be screwed around with.

A chuckle escaped Tobi's lips. A chuckle, deep and dark, like a smooth sadist, like he'd just been told a silly joke, but he hadn't, and Deidara was fuming. "Bullshitting?" he questioned darkly, his lips returning to their normal stance, uncurled. "I'll say, Deidara, you brought this upon yourself. Sasori did always say you'd live a short life, didn't he?"

Now that was just the ending line right then. All hell broke loose and the arsonist stepped forth, visible veins popping at his temple from the blood boiling within his veins. "Give me a break! What the-"

His profanities were cut short. The man's eye closed, and when it reopened Deidara nearly gasped in great shock. A sharingan. Tobi...this guy, whoever the hell he was and whatever his true name was, this was an Uchiha.

"You..."

"Itachi and Sasuke aren't the only Uchihas that still roam about this land, and it's not yet time for anyone to find out." Tobi approached Deidara; Deidara no longer had a place to back up into as he'd hit the wall, the orange mask falling from his grasp and onto the floor. He frowned, hands balled into fists. He knew this called for a battle. This guy meant business. All along he had been tricking him, acting like an idiot for something, some type of purpose, of plan.

What exactly was his purpose?

"You bastard! You tricked me! You've been lying to Akatsuki haven't you?" he questioned in a growl, lashing out at him even though he knew that if the Uchiha were to attack he'd be too weak to counter it. _Damn_, he needed to stall, he needed to get out of this before he died for sure. Uchiha's were all trouble, and this one seemed no less hostile than Itachi Uchiha or even his younger brother, Sasuke.. "Just who the fuck are you?!"

The male seemed to hesitate into giving his name. He'd soon approached Deidara, standing face to face, meeting his only working eye with Deidara's visible one. "Well, since you're going to die by my hand anyway, and if you're so curious to know, I'll tell you. Perhaps you might die a much more peaceful death then."

Deidara scoffed; the man chuckled dryly.

"Obito Uchiha," That was his final words before his hand came rushing to Deidara's neck. The bomber grumbled as the hand clutched around his neck, any way to prevent the rough grip futile as his reaction had been far too slow. Hands curled around his assaulter's, but to fruitless attempts to shove him away. This man... Obito Uchiha as he'd declared himself to be, his hands were like a death grip, quite literally. Deidara was losing breath, dark spots were beginning to cloud his vision, and soon he was sure he'd lose his life by an Uchiha.

_Damn him! Damn the whole bloody clan! _He bit his lip, blood oozing down the bite as he hoped to live just a little longer; a little longer... Fingers lowered down onto his pouch, and in a brief moment he'd taken out an explosive tag, hopefully unnoticed. His other hand came down from its futile attempt at freeing himself, and just when he'd formed a hand seal to detonate it, to at least kill himself before dying at the hands of this unknown Obito Uchiha and fulfilling his twisted plans, his hands were both snatched. His body hit the ground roughly, and his hands despoiled from their weapons. The glowing sharingan loomed down upon him, judged him like the hateful glare of Itachi Uchiha, and it was then he was sure this was no mistake, no lie or jest. This was in fact an Uchiha.

Deidara coughed, splotches of blood coming right out his mouth from the attack. But he had yet to truly save himself. He was weak, his chakra was nearly nonexistent, his will was at great lengths and his pain tolerance even greater, but Obito seemed to be at his full power. Deidara lunged a kick to the shin; Obito took it yet didn't even as flinch. Deidara hastily got to his feet, ready to defend himself with taijutsu, hands in perfect stance. Obito simply stood there, unimpressed, eying the artist with a disgruntled, sharingan eye.

He said nothing, but his eye, his expression, it spoke volumes, and it enraged the bomber. He gave off a few punches, a few kicks, a few landed, most didn't, and just when his breath was jagged and sweat was rushing down the side of his foreheads, his legs trembling, his exhaustion much greater now than before, he felt like his whole body was giving in. He felt truly pathetic, standing before the Uchiha, deprived of clay to defend himself, even of chakra and strength. He was weak. He was cursed.

Obito Uchiha seemed to be mocking him through his visible sharingan eye, like that stare all Uchihas seemed to give him, that hateful look that did nothing more than judge him. He hated it; he despised it. It gave him large amounts of adrenaline to work with, but even that ran thin at some point. Obito was unscratched, even though Deidara had landed a few kicks here and there, but his strong, menacing fort did not waver, his eye never looked away, his stance never lowered, and still he looked down at his supposed partner, belittled him with simple eyesight.

"Have you finally given up, Deidara?" he questioned, leaving behind the usual honorific Tobi would place at the end, and now speaking his name carelessly. Deidara huffed in annoyance, but saved the rest of his breath instead of fruitlessly filling his voice with profanities. "Ah, so you have. You never had a chance, even if you'd be in full power. Ah, but I suppose killing you like this makes everything much easier. The plan can advance." Footsteps soon reached Deidara whose feet finally gave in and he sat helplessly on the ground, unable to catch his breath, feeling like an idiot at best. "Hmmm, and I am sure you were looking for this as well, am I wrong?" Obito suddenly rummaged through the inside of his Akatsuki cloak and pulled out Deidara's ring, showing it off to the bomber before throwing it carelessly to the floor. Deidara didn't even bother picking it up, it being a bit further from his reach and not feeling up to the task of even moving. He needed to save some energy. He couldn't go down like this.

But Obito seemed to have other plans. A foot came down hard upon his chest, his whole breath leaving his lungs in a loud huff. His head hit the rough ground with a thud, and instantly he'd began to cough violently. "You won't be needing it anymore, at least not in this world. I'll make sure you'll have an honorable life as an artist, when I complete the Moon's Eye Plan. Now, die for my cause. I'm sure this will not be the last time we will see each other, Deidara."

"You damn- Uchiha!" Deidara managed to croak out before Obito's foot came down hard on his ribcage and he grunted in pain. A hand came down to his throat, gloved fingers that curled around, nearly took the whole of his neck.

"For you it won't be long. You'll live a better life there than you could ever have hoped for in this hell." Those were his last words, the last words Deidara heard him say. As much as he tried fighting those hands away from his neck it was futile, Obito had a dead lock on him, Deidara was cursed by the worse death of all, a death not by art, but by the hand of an Uchiha.

And he'd haunt the lands of this hell for peace of mind if the afterword allowed him to.

Obito cared naught for whatever realm of hell Deidara had cursed him to in those last few breaths that remained within him. Finally, feeling the pulse cease, the heart stop, and the wild, azure eyes of the passionate arsonist finally close, he let go of the body. The blond hit the floor with a thud, making no signs of hurt, of anything that would notify he was alive. He was gone for good. Obito contemplated this for a moment before spotting his orange mask on the floor.

The Uchiha stepped forth, crouching down before the mask to take it into his gloved hands.

"Hmmm, I would have expected this to happen sooner or later, but not in this exact sequence," a voice suddenly chimed in from behind; Obito didn't have to turn around to face the voice.

Zetsu made his entrance as usual, emerging from the grounds in a very effective way to spy on others.

Obito payed no mind to him, instead observed his orange mask intently, as though something was different in it. Soon enough, he rose from the ground, eying Zetsu with his sharingan. "Sacrifices must be made in order to achieve the ultimate plan, he was but a pawn after all."

"Ah, but how unfortunate. Deidara was quite an amusing one. His loss will be a great deal to Akatsuki's defensive points," informed white Zetsu, wearing a lopsided smirk as he observed the lifeless body of Akatsuki's bomber.

"You took him out quite easily. It's surprising he could die like this," Black Zetsu chimed in, his gaze on the blond as well.

"He was weak," was the only thing Obito informed, and after he eyed the orange mask enough to his satisfaction, he slowly brought it to his face. "Now, we should get going. The plan must advance."

Footsteps followed the path out the base, a right hand pressing the mask in its rightful place before exiting in whole, leaving behind Zetsu to care for the bomber's body.

Without looking back, Obito took his leave. It was time to leave behind the act and take a different path than he had.


End file.
